For Adolf Hitler victory meant more than the opportunity of implementing his perverse racial view. European conquest and global domination would also enable him to redesign Germany and the occupied territories along the lines of his equally twisted archaeological ambitions. Nazi Victory: The Post-War Plan II: Nazi Megacities
Germania: The city was intended to be nothing less than the capital of the entire world. ibid.
Speer joined the Nazi party in 1931. A young gifted architect, Speer soon rose through the political ranks to become a prominent member of Hitler’s inner circle. ibid.
Man has fought wars in many terrible places over the century, but never has he fought in a place as terrible as this. This is where the men who ran the Second World War Arctic convoys went to work, among not just the German submarines and planes but nature at her most brutal. PQ17: An Arctic Convoy Disaster, Jeremy Clarkson reporting, BBC 2019
Codenamed PQ17 it was the largest [convoy] that had ever sailed … The biggest naval disaster of the 20th century. ibid.
The task of delivering these supplies to Russia would fall to the men of the merchant Navy. ibid.
In the first 12 convoys to make the voyage there were 103 ships and only 1 was lost. ibid.
Take one unclaimed cadaver that had died at St Steven’s hospital – a labourer of no fixed abode; give him a name, a rank, a British uniform, and false mission papers; and set him adrift where the Germans will find him. And so begins Operation Mincemeat, an incredible Allied deception to divert the Reich armies from Sicily. This is the true story of the spy who never was, the corpse that changed the course of World War II. Spies of War I: The Soldier Who Never Was, History 2019
The body would carry confidential documents suggesting an invasion in Sardinia and Greece. ibid.
You don’t know their names. You’ve never seen their faces … British spies during the Second World War – their mission to deceive Adolf Hitler to ensure the success of the D-Day landings in Normandy. A life in the shadows that transformed these five agents into masters of deception. Spies of War II: The D-Day Spies
The biggest deception campaign in military history was conceived: Operation Bodyguard. At the head of the mission, the London Controlling Section, an ultra-secret organisation of high ranking army and secret service personnel. ibid.
Its mission: using a network of double agents to mislead intelligence services of the Reich. ibid.
The largest military operation of the twentieth century. ibid.
Under the direction of spymaster Thomas Harris, Garbo quickly expands his network of fictional informants, creating 27 imaginary agents. ibid.
The target of an upcoming Allied attack: the Bay of Biscay, north of Spain. ibid.
On the morning of 26th May 1940 an order was transmitted from the Admiralty building in London to a secret naval headquarters at Dover: the order stated that the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force should begin from the port of Dunkirk and the beaches nearby. A vast armada of ships was approaching the French coast to facilitate the evacuation. Tim Pigott-Smith, The Other Side of Dunkirk, BBC 2020
In an act of heroism, 338,000 British and French troops were evacuated. ibid.
‘Although we were happy to be back in England, we thought we’d let England down. We’ve retreated. We’ve lost the war for them. God knows what people are going to think of us now because we’ve come back.’ ibid. Sid
There was a need in British to make Dunkirk into something more positive for the struggle ahead. So myths were established, necessary myths, half-truths and propaganda. ibid.
A sequence of events that saw a surprise attack by the Germans and their rapid advance through France in a breathtaking period of blitzkrieg. Then a chaotic retreat to the coast by Allied troops, evacuation followed by the fall of France. For the French, the shame of defeat demanded blame and scapegoats, so again myths, this time of betrayal, were created to explain away national disaster. For Germany, victory created a different kind of myth, providing Hitler with an image of himself as military genius. ibid.
The Manstein Plan (The Scythe): This Plan would see the Germans cut through the forests of the Ardennes in Belgium and Luxembourg and into France. ibid.
‘The tortoise [German invasion of Belgium] has protruded its head dangerously far from its shell.’ ibid. Churchill
‘It was a model army the British army … When we saw that they were pulling out, that was shocking, that was a sign.’ ibid. French soldier
A German mistake allowing Allied troops to escape from Dunkirk. ibid.
Desecrating and insulting the memory is mean. Meanness can be deliberate, hypocritical and pretty much intentional as in the situation when declarations commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War mention all participants in the anti-Hitler coalition except for the Soviet Union. Vladmir Putin, ‘The Real Lessons of the 75th Anniversary of World War II’
On April 15th 1935 a new type of film went on sale for the first time: it was aimed particularly at amateurs. This was part of a revolution in film-making when small home movie cameras became increasingly available. As Europe descended into conflict, for the first time ordinary people right across Britain were able to record all aspects of their lives. Even at war. Lost Films of WW2 I, BBC 2020
On 7th May 1939 one amateur film-maker recorded a more menacing event: a march through the streets of London by the British Union of Fascists – a party led by former Labour MP cabinet member Oswald Mosley. They claimed to have over 50,000 members. ibid.
A new world order was on the march. But that summer in Britain for most people the events in Europe must have seemed a world away. ibid.
With the fear of bombing, the government began the mass evacuation of Britain’s cities … including over 800,000 children. ibid.
By the end of the Battle the RAF had lost 550 pilots but the Luftwaffe had 2,500 airmen killed. ibid.
One of the biggest fears was that Hitler would use poison gas. So like may other cities, Sheffield had special drills. Everyone had to take part, even schoolchildren. ibid.
So bad was Sheffield’s devastation that just a few weeks after the bombing a filmmaker recorded a morale-boosting trip by the King and Queen. ibid.
Hong Kong, 1939: One of the jewels of the British empire. Britain was still a global superpower controlling over 25% of the world. This empire was protected by the men and ships of the Royal Navy … Britain faced a powerful new rival in the Far East – Japan. In 1931 Japan had invaded China and began to carve out her own empire. The Japanese army made rapid advances … Lost Films of WW2 II, BBC 2020
Town Makes Its Own News Reel: Out of its population of 9.678 the little Linconshire town of Louth has 9,677 film actors. Odd man out is Mr E B Rawlings, and he’d be in the picture too if he wasn’t the cameraman … ibid. Daily Mirror 2 April 1941
By late 1944 France and Belgium had been liberated. In the east, huge Soviet armies were beginning to overwhelm German forces. ibid.
[Channel] Islands’ amateur filmmakers filmed the liberating troops as they landed desperately needed food and supplies. ibid.
In eleven days from 26th May – 4 June 1940 some 338,000 men were rescued from the beaches at Dunkirk. What Winston Churchill described as the ‘root, core and brain of the British army’ had been saved to fight again. Before they would be called upon, it would be left to the RAF and her Allies to protect Britain’s shores. Battle of Britain 80: Allies at War, captions, History 2020
In June 1940 Britain faced what would be its darkest military moments: hundreds of thousands of troops of the British expeditionary force had been rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk but thousands had been left behind. ibid.
The grim reality was the Air Force was struggling to get as many aircraft as they could airborne. As whilst protecting the beaches was important, aerial cover and counter-attack was critical inland. ibid.
The final heartbreaking humiliation for the RAF came when 800 of their experienced servicemen having supported the VEF evacuation tried desperately to get back to Britain aboard SS Lancastria, only for the ship to be targeted and sunk by the merciless Luftwaffe. ibid.
‘One and only one ally: Poland. Poland was the only country which was invaded and occupied by the Germans which did not in the end surrender, did not sign an armistice, never did a deal. It said, no we’re still at war with you … Tens of thousands of its soldiers got to Britain, and 8,500 airmen.’ ibid. historian
The countries of the British commonwealth were also gearing up to enter the air war. ibid.
By late July 1940 the situation was critical. Every available plane and pilot was in the front line. ibid.